While looking through some of my son's old books, we stumbled upon the wonderful Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle. Reading through it and looking at Carle's always-creative pictures gave him a craving for pancakes. So, we decided to make pancakes for dinner - and he wanted to follow the "recipe" in the book exactly. I knew this would make the outcome iffy, but I figured we would give it a try - especially since he was so excited about it (I also thought we could always make another batch if it didn't turn out), and I never like to turn down the offer to have kids help in the kitchen. As he eagerly gathered the ingredients, I gently broached the possibility that they might not turn out too well (just so he wouldn't end up disappointed) - in the book just flour, egg and milk are used. I told him some baking powder would make them rise and a little sugar and salt would improve the taste, but we perservered, even melting butter in my cast iron skillet to cook them just as in the book (the only thing we didn't have was an open fire to cook them over....my ancient Vulcan electric stove had to suffice).
Well, although it was great fun, the rubbery result unfortunately wasn't too appetizing! He was a real trooper through - he tried them and wasn't discouraged at all. I suggested trying to make another batch, which we did a bit later ....this time my daughter helped. I tweaked the original recipe, adding 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp sugar - and this time used my griddle and some cooking spray. She gave this version a thumbs up! Of course it could have been because she also added some chocolate chips! In any case, the kids got to experience first-hand that recipes don't always turn out as expected .... which is ok (especially when you have a backup plan!)